


Last Light

by BkZa555



Category: Persona 3, Persona Series
Genre: Angst, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:21:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27024223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BkZa555/pseuds/BkZa555
Summary: “Something’s wrong with you!” She snaps, fear rising to her throat. “You’re weak and tired and you look like you’re going to disappear on us! Just tell me what’s wrong, please! I want to help you!”The silence stretches for what feels like an eternity, and she could feel her heart breaking into pieces all over again when he replies, his voice so soft and so broken.“I’m so sorry.”She just keeps crying until his footsteps is far, far away.[A series of events during the final months of the canon ending]
Relationships: Arisato Minato/Takeba Yukari, Persona 3 Protagonist/Takeba Yukari, Takeba Yukari/Yuuki Makoto
Comments: 2
Kudos: 51





	Last Light

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even know why I'm doing this to myself. But hey, angst! Because why not!

Yuuki is a… strange person.

Graduation Ceremony is coming soon, their senior year is about to begin, but Yukari couldn’t help but notices the forlorn look in his face. He looks like he always wants to say something, especially when she’s around, but he never does. His eyes are sometimes unfocused, his posture hunched as if gravity itself is forcing him down, but when Yukari asks him if he’s okay, all she’d get as an answer would be a tired ghost of a smile.

As the day goes by, Yuuki looks paler, weaker, more distant, yet staying close all the same. Junpei would joke and laugh with him, or Fuuka would occasionally commenting on something that he seems to be interested in, and all he would do in response was smiling.

But Yukari knows better. Those smiles are nothing more than a façade to hide his pain.

When class ends for the day, she turns to see him sleeping on his crossed arms, his breath even and a little on the shallow side. Junpei has already bolted after Kenji, and their classmates are all but gone. She’s alone with him, and she couldn’t help but worry as he remains on his seat, looking as though he’s slumbering his life away.

She shakes his shoulder gently. No response. She sighs and tries again, a bit more persistent, a little harder. After a while, he groans and shifts, lifting his head just slightly.

“Class is already over, sleepyhead,” She says with a smile. Yuuki blinks slowly like a cat, his gray eyes slightly hazy. He blinks again, a hand on his face.

“Ngh… what time’s this…?” He slurs, stifling a yawn that shakes his body. Yukari simply points at the wall-mounted clock at the front of the class. His eyes follow, and it takes him a few seconds. “…huh.”

“You look really tired,” Yukari finally says, a hand on his arm, squeezing it lightly. His attention falls to her hand, and she quickly pulls away. “Uh… anyways, I think you should see a doctor, or something.”

He doesn’t answer right away, instead just looking at her with his expression almost unreadable. There is a strange glint in his gaze, and it somehow makes her heart _aches_. Yukari opens her mouth, but before she could say anything he murmurs, voice low and barely audible. “I’m sorry.”

She tilts her head. “What for?”

He jolts slightly, his fingers curling into fists before he seems to forcefully relax his hands. Yuuki just shakes his head again and gets up, slightly unsure on his feet. “It’s nothing.”

“Hey,” She says, her hand instinctively grabs onto his wrist. She’s only realized just how _cold_ his skin is. “You can tell me anything. We’re friends, you know.”

He looks at her for what feels like an eternity before his lips curl into a small, but genuine, smile. He tugs at his wrist, and she lets it go, before he whispers. “I know.”

He’s not going to be saying anything else, and Yukari knows better than to push for an answer. He’s not exactly an open person, but she knows he will when he wants to. Yukari then decides to ignore the foreboding feeling at the pit of her stomach and stands up. “You want to head back to the dorm?”

“Sure.”

* * *

The trip back to the dorm is not as awkward as she thought it would.

She’s not as close to Yuuki as Junpei is, and not used to the silence as Fuuka, but he’s still one of her closest friends. There’s something that draws her to him — a feeling of nostalgia she couldn’t quite put her fingers on. He doesn’t speak much, but it seems to her that his actions are the way he conveys his thoughts and feelings. A subtle, almost unrecognizable smile on his lips, the softness of his eyes as he looks at her, the way he shifts so her seat wouldn’t feel as cramped.

When the train arrives at Iwatodai, he follows closely behind her, his steps matching hers as they trudge down the familiar road. Yukari turns to see Yuuki simply gazing up at the sky, and when he looks back down and meets her eyes, she feels her face instantly heats up.

She turns back, putting both hands on her cheeks and cursing her stupid body regulators for sending her face into the furnace. But she’s surprised when she hears a soft chuckle from him. When she turns to look again, he’s smiling at her, his eyes holding a thousand different things.

“…Why are you looking at me like that?” She says, noticing the pain and desperation in those pair of steel gray, as well as a certain emotion she feels like it’s misplaced, yet belong there.

Yuuki’s smile falters slightly as he answers. “Sorry, it’s nothing.”

“Would it kill you to tell me the truth?” She says half-jokingly, punching his chest lightly before continuing their walk.

The absence of his footfalls makes her stop and turn to him again.

The wind caresses her cheek as she feels something tugging at her heart. Yuuki maintains that sad smile on his face as the breezes pulls his hair back just a little more. There’s a lump in her throat she doesn’t know how to get rid of as he reaches his arm up to his face, wiping something away. And with that, he hastens his steps, walking past her.

“Yuuki-kun?” She calls, reaching her hand to grab his. The small patch of wetness on his sleeve is enough of an evidence that he’s definitely _crying_. But why? “Why are you crying? Did I do something wrong?”

“…It’s not you,” He murmurs, refusing to look her way. Yukari frowns and pulls at his hand — clammy and cold — a bit more, finally forcing him to turn his face her way. He still refuses to look at her, but she could clearly see the glistening of tears in his eyes.

“Yuuki-kun…” She begins again, reaching her hand to his face, but stops midway. “How can I—?”

“It’s okay,” He says quietly, looking down at their hands. Yukari quickly pulls away. She grabs it on instinct and clings to it a bit harder than she had intended. He just lets out a small, broken laugh. “I’ll be okay. Don’t worry.”

“I don’t believe you,” She says with a frown.

Yuuki just looks up at the setting sun, the fading sunlight gently touching his skin. He closes his eyes and smiles to nothing as he whispers softly, letting the wind carries his words to her. “I know.”

* * *

She feels like she’s forgetting something important.

Yuuki keeps looking at her strangely, the distance between them growing more and more, mostly due to how much she hates being lied to. He tells her _nothing_ , lies through his teeth, and in turn she seems to instinctively shuts him away.

A tiny, unexplainable part of her is screaming at her not to do this to him. And with every passing day, as his lies grow more and more unbearable, that tiny voice gets louder. Junpei starts looking worried, and Fuuka looks torn between asking him about it and letting it go. But Yukari will not sit by and let Yuuki build this godforsaken wall around him if she can help it.

So when the bell for the class rings, she forcefully grabs his wrist and pulls him with her.

“Takeba, what—?”

“Just shut up,” She snaps at him, determined. After a moment, he quickens his pace to match her angry one, and she slackens her grip as she leads him up and up.

The roof during the tail end of daylight has always been her favorite spot. The wind is soothing and warm, the sunlight dancing on the water surface and the buildings around them. She leads him to the best spot, overlooking the entirely of Port Island, and crosses her arms over her chest.

“I hate you.”

Yuuki doesn’t openly react to her statement. But she spots the tense look on his face and that damn smile that claws and tears at her heart. He looks down at the railing, hands nervously tucked inside his pants’ pockets. After what feels like an eternity, he murmurs. “I know.”

“No, you don’t,” She says, and when he turns to her, she slaps him across his cheek.

His eyes widen in surprise as his left hand comes up to touch the spot she’s slapped him, angry red marks blooming, and there’s a single drop of blood at the corner of his lips. He wipes it away and looks at his hand in confusion before he looks up at her. She doesn’t explain herself right away, letting him taking all of this in first.

Yuuki looks back down at his hand, at the tiny red stain at his fingertips, and then back at her. “Why—”

“—did I do that?” She finishes, feeling angry tears rolling down her cheeks. Yuuki looks even more surprised than he already was. “Why do you always have to carry all those weights by yourself? We’re your friends. _I’m_ your friend! Please stop putting up walls around your heart and let me help you!”

She could hear her voice cracks at the end, but she couldn’t stop. Her legs finally give out under her, and she’s sitting on the concrete, crying.

“Takeba…”

“Something’s wrong with you!” She snaps, fear rising to her throat. “You’re weak and tired and you look like you’re going to disappear on us! Just tell me what’s wrong, please! I want to help you!”

The silence stretches for what feels like an eternity, and she could feel her heart breaking into pieces all over again when he replies, his voice so soft and so _broken_.

“I’m so sorry.”

She just keeps crying until his footsteps is far, far away.

* * *

There are three soft knocks on her door, punctuated equally. Yukari walks over and opens it only to find Yuuki standing there, looking broken and confused and pale and so, so _weak._

He’s barely able to stand straight anymore, and his breaths are coming out in gasps, fast and uneven. She doesn’t know how to react, so she just pulls him in and closes the door.

He just… stands there, swaying and unsure on his feet, eyes dazed. He’s sweating, and he looks like he could fall over any minute now. Yukari takes in his state with fear clutching at her heart, and she quickly says, “Let me call Mitsuru-senpai. I’m sure—”

“Please,” He pleads, making her stop. His voice is no longer that soft and soothing tone that she’s used to. It now sounds like broken glasses and lost hope and she _hates_ it. For the first time that day, he looks at her straight in the eyes. “Don’t leave me alone.”

There are a hundred questions running inside her head. But as she watches—at his pleading eyes, at his pale face—her intuition knows that what he needs are not inquiries or interrogations from her.

Instead, Yukari simply nods, murmuring a meek, “Okay.”

Yuuki relaxes slightly as he stumbles forward. She manages to catch him before he falls, one hand against his chest, feeling his beating heart, while the other grips at his shirt.

She feels his warm breath on her skin as he rests his head against her shoulder, his hands finding their ways to her sweater and each grips a fistful of the pink fabric. She slowly leads him forward, his legs quivering under each step, until they reach her bed. She then sets him down carefully, letting him clings to her like a lifeline.

“Yuuki—”

“Makoto,” He whispers against her shoulder. His voice is faint, at best, and his breaths are coming out in short bursts of air. His whole body is shaking, his hands slowly falls to his side as something warm and wet stains her shoulder. “ _Please_.”

“Makoto,” She repeats, circling her arms around him and pulling him closer. She doesn’t know what’s happening, why he’s here, or what she’s supposed to do, but he’s breaking into pieces right before her eyes and she doesn’t know how to stop it.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” He mutters between broken sobs, his hands reaching up once again to her shirt, and then circling around her back. He pulls her impossibly closer, tears freely flowing from his eyes as he cries and _cries_ his heart out.

“What are you apologizing for?” She says, confused, as she pats his head and his soft, blue hair.

He doesn’t answer, instead shaking his head into the crook of her neck, cold hands pressing her harder against him. Yukari doesn’t hate it; the only thing she hates is the way he’s shattering right before her eyes. Uneasiness and fear run rampant in her chest as she starts murmuring sweet nothings into his ear, in a dim hope that somehow, she’d be able to calm him down.

She lets him cry everything he’s kept inside for hours and hours, until the sun finally set and the moon rises above the horizon. Yu – no, _Makoto_ is breathing evenly against her, now, but the dampness from his tears remain on her shoulder and shirt. She doesn’t care about that in the least as she keeps whispering soothing words, her arms rocking him back and forth slightly, as if trying to lull him into a blissful sleep.

After a long, long time, he whispers, with his face remaining on her shoulder. “I—I’m… sorry about that, Takeba—”

“ _Yukari_ ,” She corrects him with a smile and pushes him back slightly. His face is still pale, eyes puffy and red, but he looks at least a little bit better. “You don’t get to call me with my last name anymore, dummy.”

That draws out a huff of laughter from him as he says with a warm smile that she misses so much. “I guess you’re right.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asks.

“…No,” He says after a pause, his grips on her slacken as he attempts to pull away. “Sorry about…”

“Don’t be,” She cuts him off and pulls him into a hug again, refusing his retreat. There’s a muffled protest from him, but she ignores it. “You needed this, Makoto.”

“I guess,” He murmurs, finally pulling away after she allows him to.

And when she looks at him in the eyes, she feels a harrowing dread in her heart. His smile is dreary as he raises his hand to touch her cheek. She doesn’t flinch away; she doesn’t flinch _at all_. His thumb carefully caresses her cheek, and then he draws his hand downward, until his fingers are cupping at her chin, his thumb at her lips. A second later, their lips met.

The kiss is tender, yet desperate. He doesn’t push her, instead letting her decides what to do. She responds by circling her arms around his neck and pulls him closer, deepening the kisses as she parts her lips slightly.

Makoto is gentle as he nibbles at her lips and prods slightly with his tongue. He hums against her as he pushes her onto the mattresses, their lips still locked tight. When he finally, _finally_ pulls away, he touches his forehead with hers, letting out a long, shaky breath. “…I love you.”

She blinks, still looking at him. His eyes convey all the sadness of the world, and with it, happiness. His touch is gentle as he feels her cheek, his fingers trembling minutely. He’s _afraid_ , Yukari realizes, but he says nothing as he keeps his fingers where they are, waiting for any sort of reply from her.

She doesn’t know _what_ to actually say. She isn’t that close with him, and yet a part of her is longing to be here, with him by her side. A part of her _loves_ him, without reason. Just pure, simple longing and love. She decides to trust that tiny part of her, that seems to make her feel both happy and sad and _scared_ , and murmurs. “I love you too.”

At those words, his smile turns more melancholic as he pulls away. “I know.”

“…Makoto?”

“Thank you… Yukari,” He says as he sits up, his smile softening ever so slightly. “And… take care.”

“Wha—Makoto!”

Before she could form a proper response, or grabs him, he’s already out of the door, his legs shaken and unsure, but his face seems to regain a bit of life back into it.

The sense of dread in her stomach grows more and more, and she doesn’t know what to do.

“Makoto, wait!”

She runs out of the door, looking around, before heading to his room.

He’s no longer there.

* * *

He’s dying.

Slowly, silently, painlessly, his consciousness is drifting further and further away. He couldn’t move a finger anymore, so all he can do is wait, for death to claim him.

Makoto wants to say that he’s sorry, that he wants to stay longer, that he wants to be here. He wants to live his life with them, wants to see the world blooms and blossoms and carries on. He wants to witness the world that he puts his life on the line to save prosper, but he knows that he has to pay the price for the Seal. He regrets not being able to say goodbye, but he doesn’t regret his choice.

He only wishes that Yukari would forgive him.

_I love you, Yukari._

_I’m sorry._

And as he closes his eyes and drifts off into his final slumber, he hopes that everything will be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> Tell me what you think! I kinda wrote this on a fly, so feedback would be very welcome!


End file.
